Brian Ashcraft

Are commercial breaks something gamers in the future will have to deal with? According to a newly surfaced patent, they might.

The patent, discovered by webforum NeoGAF, was filed back in July 2011 under the moniker "Advertisement Scheme for use with interactive content." This scheme will warn players that their game is about to be interrupted momentarily with paid content, such as Sony's example of a soda commercial, before gameplay stops for a quick commercial. Once it's over, gameplay resumes.

It will also be possible for players to "rewind" a portion of the interactive content after the commercial.

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As website Eurogamer (via VG247) pointed out, this latest patent follows on the heels of Sony patents that showed that the electronics giant was interested in this sort of tech. Sony might think this is a good way to generate revenue. I think it's a good way to piss people off.